Fear Is Relative
by Haruko The Wacko
Summary: As the exam after a course, part of the team goes to an off-shore facility, along with other teams. But instead of exams, they are met by jealousy, distrust, murders and for Mac, a burning fear of losing the one he loves in a world where fear is relative.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know I have 4 or 5 stories running right now, and some of them haven't been updated for a while, and I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount. So I'm asking you to add a review to the stories you follow, or let me know if you want me to continue them. Because I'm going to sort through them, by reviews, alerts and favorites, unless you ask me to keep them going. I need to upload a new story, because the old ones have played through my mind so many times, that I'm actually bored by writing them. I hope you can bear with me.

Alright, Here's the story I posted a teaser for, in the 5th chapter of my story Strangers Makes family.

Hugs. Haruko.

Chapter 1:

Stella sighed sadly as she grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, and got up to leave after a long and very weird day. She couldn't keep ignoring him, but like by the snap of their fingers they had been pushed further apart than they'd ever been before.

It had been a matter of 5 vulnerable seconds, and they'd been lost. It had been a long day yesterday as well, after working on the same hopeless case for a week, while preparing for the simulation they were leaving for the next day.

Being exhausted, and chocked after the outcome of the case, Stella had gone to check on Mac, being concerned as usual. She had felt more than fragile, and he had had one of his moments were he opened up to her almost entirely.

She didn't know who started it, and what the hell happened that short second, before she found herself kissing him tenderly.

"Stella?" Mac asked, suddenly standing a few feet behind her. By reflex she jumped slightly as she turned to face him, she didn't know if it was because she had been thinking about him, or because he simply startled her by suddenly appearing.

"I think we need to talk." He said with an unreadable look on his face. Stella nodded numbly, a little surprised that he had brought this up, and she hadn't had too.

"Yesterday was…" He started. Fearing more than anything to hear the word mistake, she broke him off by suggesting 'awkward'.

He nodded confirming, "A mistake?" He asked vaguely. Stella took a deep breath, felt her body start to shiver, so many emotions and thoughts racing inside her, that she couldn't even come up with any other answer than; "I don't know."

He took a step towards her, lifted her chin as she looked down. Forcing her to meet his bluish green eyes. The usual calm and confident look was gone, replaced by a shifty, insecure, almost teary look.

"You're my boss, we've been friends for an eternity, I just…" She started with a sigh. "I don't want to lose you." She explained. He nodded numbly as he hugged her. For once, he was the one looking for contact.

After a few seconds, she pulled away, gave him a quick goodnight as she walked out of the office. Fearing that she could burst into tears any time, the shivering had increased, and her steps were shaky.

"Stella." He suddenly called after her, she turned her head, looked at him, as a tear rolled quietly along her nose, before it landed on her chest.

The empty lab seemed to be closing in on her, as her heartbeat increased, pounding harder and harder in her chest, waited for him to say something.

"Maybe…" He started, but seemed to stumble in the words, and just stood with a thoughtful look on his face for a few seconds.

"Maybe we should give it a chance?" She finished hoping that was what he had wanted to say. The next second seemed to take an eternity as he took the few steps towards her, that she had taken away from him just a minute earlier.

"I think we should." He finally added. She stroked the soft skin on his cheek with her thumb, as her hand lingered by his neck. Pulled his face so close that she could feel his warm breath against her lips, that millisecond before their lips met.

Stellas heart had far from settled down as they broke off their tender and passionate kiss, and just stood there, in the middle of the hallway, holding each other tight.

---o---

"Hey guys." Stella shouted cheerfully as Danny and Mac joined her by the plane that was going to take them to North Carolina, where they would be sailed to the FBI training island, for, what Danny referred to as, their final exam.

"Hey Stel." Danny said, Mac raised his hand in a short greeting. But the slight smile on his face was unmistakeable. And it made Stella smile happily too. Resulting in Danny looking confused from one coworker to another.

Until Don arrived and saved them, as Danny felt an urge to comment on the fact that Don had packed more than Stella.

"So, anyone know anything about where we're gonna be?" Don asked curiously. Stella and Danny shrugged.

"At an old investigation facility on an island off the shore of North Carolina." Mac explained as they boarded the small plane, that FBI had made available.

"So if something goes wrong we're screwed?" Danny asked, his thoughts already at being away from Lindsay and Lucy for a week.

Stella knew that this week would have been horrible if she would have to be away from Mac, well, more than ever because they just 'got together' last night.

"Have you ever heard of a phone?" Don mocked, Mac shook his head defeatist. "First of all, there will be detectives playing the killers we have to catch, remember?"

"Listen to the boss Messer." Don commented wisely. "Wait a minute, technically Mac wont be the boss when we're there?" He asked. Making the other 3 detectives laugh.

"Technically not, since we're not the only team there." Stella started. "But I'm pretty sure he'll put himself in charge somehow." She mocked, blinking at Mac.

"What's up with you two today?" Danny asked with a confused look on his face, the thought of his bosses as a couple didn't even cross his mind, it was way too unrealistic.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently, as she dug into her bag and pulled out a book and a bottle of water.

"I don't get women…" Don sighed. "A book and some water? What's wrong with a movie and if not beer then at least a soda?"

"Nothing wrong with maintaining a great look." Stella commented confidently, much to Dons amusement, as she opened her book and calmly started reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, I'm hoping for a little more reaction on this one. I'd like to hear what you all think.**

**Haruko.**

Chapter 2:

Stella shook her head slightly amused by Don and Danny's childish pokergame. Mac was currently in the small excuse for a kitchen. Having volunteered to cook, after Danny's comment that at his place, Lindsay did the cooking, and he was on diaper patrol.

Stella herself, was pretending to read her book, but she couldn't really concentrate. She was hopelessly dazed by the turn off the night before. And soon decided to get up and help Mac, even though she wasn't the greatest chef.

Don and Danny were too busy arguing over their silly card game, to notice her slipping out of the room.

She also managed to successfully sneak into the kitchen without Mac noticing before her arms had snaked around his waist. He jumped slightly, apparently lost in thought, before he turned his head smiling at her.

"Hey." He said quietly, turning toward her and placed a tender kiss on her lips. She floated away, completely forgetting about time and place.

"This cooking thing suits you." She commented as they broke of the kiss. He nodded and wisely commented that he knew that.

"Guys, the other teams just arrived." Danny shouted from the room right next door.

---o---

Stella looked at Mac with a slight smile, trying not to reveal herself to the team, as the detectives from LA and North Carolina arrived.

3 detectives from LA, a woman and 2 guys, and 2 men from North Carolina.

She was sure she saw Mac flash a jealous look as a blonde guy from LA walked right past Don and Danny, and straight to Stella. "I'm detective Mitch Conelly LAPD. But to you, it's Mitch." He said, taking her hand that she hadn't even reached out yet.

"Detective Bonasera, NYPD. To you, Detective Bonasera." She replied dryly as she crossed her arms, and smiled innocently as Don and Danny struggled to keep back a laughter by the way she told off 'Mitch'.

Mac on the other hand, didn't seem to even try to hide the proud and mocking look on his face. That she doubted she'd ever seen before.

Mitch walked casually past her, the dignity, he believed was maintained by his pathetic proud look on his face, crawling behind him, trying to catch up.

"I'm Lucas Cooper North Carolina PD, this is my colleague Matthew Andrews" An average looking guy presented himself to everybody.

The woman from the LAPD introduced herself as Abigail Parker, and briefly mentioned that her other colleague was John Bernard.

---o---

Mac looked around in the room he was staying in, reminded him of the marines, simple, and slightly terrifying too. Only he was sleeping alone, there was no bunk beds, thankfully.

He laid down on his back, on the very uncomfortable mattress, sighed by the thought of the young, fairly good looking LA detective, that had been hitting on Stella 2 times tonight already, and then of course there was his coworker, who had been hitting on her once as well. Which made Mac surprisingly jealous, a feeling he hadn't had for quite a while. Actually, he was pretty sure he wasn't a jealous person as such.

Maybe it was just because they just started this whole thing together, that he notcied when men were paying attention to Stella.

A few soft knocks on the door tore him from his thoughts, and he wasn't even allowed time to answer, before it was opened and Stella stood in the doorway, with that teasing smile on her face, that she only flashed when she was in her playful, mocking mood.

"I was pretty sure I saw this whole different person in you tonight, but that cant be true can it? I'm pretty sure he was jealous..." She asked, blinking mockingly, as he raised himself on his elbows.

"Um..." He said, suddenly lacking words to say. He couldn't just say hell I was jealous, he was hitting on you. Because he would seem petty and possessive and he was fairly sure she wouldn't exactly be happy about that.

"Mac..." She said, shaking her head defeatist, "You don't really think I'd choose a smartass, believing he's gods gift to women, over you?"

Once again, he had completely no idea what to say to her, that spark in her eye, and the slight hint of a smile stunned his senses. Just the way her curls waved around her head as she spoke, nodded or shook her head.

"I thought so." She mocked as she walked to him, smiled seductively as she laid down on top of him. Her breath teasing his senses.

"Stel, we're at work..." He mumbled, but he rather wanted to ignore that fact. And play along.

"We haven't really had the first assignment yet, there's no dead bodies here, so technically, we're not at work..." She whispered as she playfully leaned in and kissed him passionately.

---o---

Stella didn't quite know if she was awake or sleeping, resting her head on Macs chest. The feeling of him playing with her curls made her smile. It was such a small gesture, but it meant so much.

She cuddled a little closer to him, kissed his chest affectionately, before once again laying her head down.

2 Hasty knocks on the door, made her draw the cover further up, to cover her entire body, just in time before Don barched through the door.

"Mac we've got a..." He started, but his jaw dropped as he saw Stella. "Gee. Sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his nose as he continued.

"I know this is a bad timing, but we've got a problem." He started over. "John Bernard is dead."

"What?!" Stella asked, her voice already at a shrill level, she wasn't sure if it was because of the twist of things, or because her night was cut short.

"It's brutal. We're gathering everyone upstairs." He explained, "I'll let you 2 get dressed. See you in 10?"

"Sure." Mac said, Don nodded and left. Leaving 2 embarrassed detectives behind."I don't think I've ever seen you blush before.." Stella commented mockingly as she sat up. "We should get moving."

-o-

"Oh god." Stella gasped as she entered the room where John Bernard were laying dead on the floor, a metal spike right through him. "How can we be sure that this isn't part of the test?" She asked sceptically, her brain had already switched to work mode.

"He is definitely dead." Danny commented, something about his behaviour telling Stella, that Don had kept his discovery to himself. "And he is not a wax doll either." He continued.

Abigail, the female LAPD detective, where sitting with her colleague Mitch a little away from the other detectives. She seemed more affected by her colleagues death, than Mitch.

"Did you call the operators?" Mac asked officially. His calm business-as-usual tone calming his team significantly.

"The lines are dead." Don explained, Stella started to feel a little nervous about this situation, even though her reasonable mind told her, that it was part of the demonstration. Even though she didn't really know how they could make it look so real.

"Why don't we just process the place, and see what we find?" Lucas Cooper suggested, the most reasonable said at the moment, so of course that was what they decided to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm positively surprised about the amount of reviews, so thank you very much. I spent math class writing most of this. (Had chemistry after that, wouldn't miss it for the world) Anyhow, I tried to mix in a little fear, friendship, laughs, and some Smacked goodie moments for y'all. Enjoy.**

**Haruko.**

Chapter 3:

The spray of water running down her body, didn't calm her racing mind. Someone had killed John Bernard, and the rest of them might not be safe.

Even though the water was warm and comfortable, and there were nothing she enjoyed more than a long hot shower, when things seemed to grow over her head, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

There were also this paranoid feeling haunting her, she had looked over her shoulder hundreds of times already, and pushed the curtain slightly aside, to see if someone were outside.

She felt a shiver run down her spine as she convinced herself that she heard footsteps. Deciding to cut her shower short, she turned of the water and pushed the curtain aside.

Before she could reach for a towel, it was wrapped around her caringly. "You scared me." She sighed as she smiling turned to Mac.

"Sorry." He said calmly. "I didn't want you to be alone, considering we don't know what's going on." He explained brushing a strand of soaked curls from her face.

"Thank you Mac." She said, a little calmer by his presence. But her job had long taught her that not even a strong boyfriend could save you from everything.

-o-

"I'm not making this up." Don said, Danny shook his head defeatist. Commenting that Dons mind was playing tricks on him.

"Really nice Messer. Why would I make it up?" He continued, not aware that Stella was standing a few feet away, listening attentively to their conversation.

"Yea Messer, why would he make it up?" She repeated mocking, suppressing a laughter as Don jumped slightly. "Gossiping like a girl Don."

"It's the news of the century Stel. Cant escape that fact." Don mocked, her blushing made Danny sit up straight, realizing that Don had in fact been telling the truth.

"Where is he anyways?" Danny asked after a moment.

"Going over evidence again with Lucas Cooper and Matthew Andrews." Stella explained shortly, actually a little worried about not being with him. But she didn't say anything about it, since she didn't want to be clingy.

"Probably the only sane people here, that LAPD woman is going crazy. You might want to steer clear of her and that Mitch guy." Danny warned, looking over his shoulder.

"I wasn't planning on looking for him." She commented, "I'd rather avoid him."

-o-

"She is so desperate." Matthew commented, as Abigail practically threw herself at Mitch, with her loud fake laughter, and pushy, flirting behavior. Stella nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but laugh.

"He seems more interested in you though." Matthew continued, he had proved to be a quite nice guy.

"He is wasting his time..." She said with a shy smile, as she thought about her little adventure with Mac, but also the look on Dons face when he had marched into the room.

"I noticed that." Matthew mocked, he was really natural around other people, and comfortable to be around at that.

"Did you find something when you went back to the body?" She asked curiously, Matthew shook his head. "Not much. Mac and Lucas are still looking."

"Think this is part of the drill?" She asked, pretty shaken up about this whole thing, but they probably all were.

"Stel! We need your expertise." Mac said, rushing into the room with a photograph in his hand.

"If you haven't noticed, we have the same field of expertise." She mocked, making Danny laugh, and barely audible adding Whether it was at work or in private. His laughter ended abruptly when he received 2 almost identical glares from his bosses.

Mac handed her the photograph, and she suddenly understood why he asked her. It was text, written in Greek, on the victims chest.

"What does it say?" Danny asked curiously, Stella smiled viciously as she read it out loud – in Greek, much to the others' amusement.

"Try to guess who's next..." She read out loud. "... But it wont be easy."

"I guess we can be fairly sure that it isn't me." She continued as Mac placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm gonna keep an eye on you anyways." He said with a concerned smile on his face. Mitch who was standing a little further away rolled his eyes, making Abigail send an angry glare, at Stella.

"I bet." She sighed, wishing that she was just back home in New York, in her apartment, sharing a pizza with Mac.

-o-

"I cant believe this." Stella growled in frustration. "I was asleep for less than 20 minutes."

"Are you sure it's her?" Mac asked as he carefully tried to remove the piece of gum, that was hopelessly caught in Stellas hair.

"How else could it have gotten there? I haven't had a piece of gum since before we left New York." She said, angry that Abigails jealousy had gotten this far.

"Auh! Be careful." She complained, remembering only too clearly, what it felt like, when trying to remove gum from your hair. Common way to tell someone you didn't like them, at age 14.

"Why don't we just cut that particular strand of, would be much less painful." He suggested, but Stella instantly turned his suggestion down. "No, that's the one thing I'm most perfectionist about." She explained calmly.

"Hey! Watch it!" She growled a little loudly, but quickly apologized.

"Stel? Everything okay?" Don asked, suddenly appearing in the door with a concerned look on his face. Danny right behind him.

"Yea. I'm fine. If Mac would stop pulling my hair out." She said, her tone a little lighter than earlier.

"You can do this yourself if you keep complaining." He said, his tone slightly more serious than hers.

"Abigail put gum in your hair?" Danny commented mocking. Cocked a brow at them as Mac said that that was what Stella suspected.

"I don't get why she's so hostile... I'm not the slightest bit interested in that guy." Stella sighed, had to suppress the need to growl, when Danny joking asked her why not.

"First of all. I'm already taken." She said with her trademark smile.

"Yea, I noticed that.." Don mocked, Stella looked at Mac, both looked at their hands for a short second, before Mac continued his fight to get the single piece of gum out of her hair.

"Second, I've fallen for a smart-ass once, taught me never to do that again." She continued.

"Here we go." Mac said as he tossed the piece of gun in the trash.

"Thank you." She sighed, wondering what would make Abigail so jealous about something that wasn't even there.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alright, Another Smacked Goodie moment, to make up for the increasing suspense and angst you will have to endure through the next chapters... Enjoy this chappie though. Hope you'll bear with me, and dislike Mitch as much as I do.. (Second time I write a chapter I genuinely hate, Laurence from My Glossy Nightmare being the first of course) :P**

**I know I've updated last night as well, but I had a day of from school, so I seized the moment. **

**Hugs Haruko.**

Chapter 4:

"You should get some sleep." Mac said calmly, Stella sighed, ran her fingers through her hair.

"I cant sleep. Not right now." She said, Mac nodded, told her that he knew what she meant.

"I don't know, I just... The more time that passes, I just manage to make myself more and more paranoid." She explained. "Reminds me of being a kid, One of the older boys and a couple of his buddies, was selling stolen candy to the other kids. Those who had money anyways." She started with a slight smile.

"The adults didn't know about it. Of course. Me and the girls I shared a room with, decided that we wanted a part of it. Only, we were all broke." She said, ever so slightly proud of what she'd done, it had been incredibly fun. At first.

"It was an amazing thrill, we planned it all out, one of my roommates would stand guard, I was the skinny one, so I had to climb through the window, get the goods and get the hell outta there." She said. "Went well the first couple of times. Then he came back from the soccerfield a little early one time. I spent close to an hour in his closet. He didn't see me. But he figured it out pretty quickly."

"Left too much evidence?" Mac mocked slightly, she shook her head. "The only one with the guts. But I started to grow paranoid, looked over my shoulder all the time, knew that eventually, he'd get his payback."

"So, did he?" He asked, both amused and a little concerned over her story.

"Yea, I went on a trip to the ER with a broken wrist. He was sent to a fosterfamily willing to take in difficult children." She finished, there weren't many people she would share childhood stories with. It was always sad, to talk about families, when that was the one thing she didn't have.

"Isn't that kind'a unfair?" He asked, she laughed. "Remember how I acted when you tried to pull the gum out of my hair? Imagine this scenario then: 13 year-old girl, with a split lip and a blue eye, 4 days away from school photography. No cash for make-up."

"I get the picture..." He said with a slight smile.

"How 'bout you. Didn't you ever get into trouble as a kid? Throw a few punches? Send innocent little girls like me to the ER?" She asked curiously, Mac chuckled. "Hate to admit I was on the other end of the punches." He explained, turning just slightly serious.

"Are you telling me that the great Mac Taylor, that I spent the best of my first year at the lab, being afraid of. Was being bullied as a kid?" She asked, not mocking, just musing.

"I don't recall you doing anything but challenge me since I hired you." He said, countering her last sentence.

"Life wouldn't be as fun if you didn't have me to piss you off every once in a while." She mocked, looked up as Danny knocked at the door.

"You guys hanging in there?" He asked, bringing 2 mugs with coffee. "Fresh." He said as he handed them a cup each.

-o-

Mac woke up numb,with a headache as if he had been drinking since he woke up in the morning. Looking around, he quickly realized he weren't on the bed where him and Stella had been talking as the last thing he remembered.

Getting up, he ignored the dizziness, his only thought was finding his team, and making sure they were all safe.

A little away from him were Matthew, also just coming to. Of all the people here, Matthew wasn't the worst person. But Macs gut still told him to be careful, any one of the others could have killed John Bernard.

"Arh, my head." Matthew complained as he got up. Soon asked what happened.

"Things just got worse. Lets find the others." Mac said in his best bossy tone, he wasn't going to turn his back on this guy for one second. He couldn't risk anything, he had to find Stella, make sure she was safe. At all costs.

"We'd better."

-o-

"Are you okay Luv?" Mitch asked, Stella hadn't been awake for more than a minute, and he was already getting on her nerves.

"Fine." She growled, pushing his hand off her shoulder. "Except from the fact that I'm stuck on an Island where someone's already killed one, now I'm separated from the 3 people here I actually trust, and stuck with a guy who doesn't understand that the next time he calls me 'luv', his voice will be permanently stuck on the high notes." She hissed, before she even realized what got into her.

"Miss your bodyguard do you?" He asked provocatively. Stella rolled her eyes, for safety reasons, made sure that her gun was safely tugged in the holster by her hip.

"Come on, why else would you be with a jerk like that?"He continued, she didn't know what he was up to, but her temper was on one helluva test.

"Put a lid on it. We're gonna find the others." She said calmly, even though she was anxious that maybe Mitch was the bad guy, even though she had nothing to point her in that direction. She just wanted to be near Mac, Don and Danny, because she knew neither of them would ever harm her. "Quietly." She emphasized as Mitch opened his mouth to say something.

-o-

"Great, of all people. I get her." Danny mumbled as he watched Abigail dramatically pick herself up from the floor, in a creepily bluish lit hallway.

"I bet it's her." She growled under her breath, Danny was pretty sure he shouldn't have heard it. And chose to ignore it, right now wasn't the time to argue over some teenageish jealousy.

"Come on lets look for the others." He suggested, Abigail nodded absently, walking around in her own world, even though neither of them kept their eyes of each other for a second. Danny didn't trust her, and she probably didn't trust him either.

"Perfect teeth, perfect curls, perfect body. Bitch can get any guy she wants." Abigail continued, Danny was starting feel pretty annoyed by this woman's shallow hatred to Stella.

"Alright Listen up. It just happened to be a good friend of mine you're insulting. And I don't know how you got the idea she was interested in your buddy Mick..."

"Mitch." Abigail corrected barely audible before Danny continued, "But I've worked with Stella for a long time, and if I know one thing for certain, it is that she's loyal as hell, she would never ever do that to Mac. Clear?"

"Sure." She hissed, marching on, pretending that Danny hadn't just lectured her.

-o-

Don walked in silence, keeping an eye on Lucas at all times, even though he seemed like a nice guy, Don had to be suspicious about everything, anyone of them could have done it. In theory the only people aside from himself that he knew for sure hadn't done it, was Danny, because he had been with him all the time. And Mac and Stella since they had been a little preoccupied as well.

Of course he trusted them, and didn't think any of them would kill anyone. He still knew from his job, that anyone was capable of murder, under the right circumstances.

And they had all done it, at one point in their lives, or not exactly murder, but they had all caused someone to lose their life.

Mac had when he was in the marines. Danny had shot suspects in self-defence, so had Don himself. And Stella had the less fortunate event with Frankie.

Just before they reached a corner, Don and Lucas both instinctively drew their guns, they heard footsteps. One person only. It could just be one of the others, but this situation had taught them to be careful.

"Mac." Don said relived to see at least one person he could trust 100%. "Good to see you."

"Likewise." Mac said calmly, putting his, also drawn, gun back into the holster. "Any sight of the others yet?"

"She'll be fine. But you gotta know this, when we come back to the lab. I'm gonna tell Lindsay ' bout you." Don said with a slight smile.

"Maybe I'll beat you to it." He joked, "We have to find them."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Just another chappie for you, before I have class. French to be accurate (Nothing against the language, but boy it's hard) So cheer me up with some reviews.. Thanks.**

**Haruko.**

Chapter 5:

It felt like an eternity for Stella, even though she had probably only walked around in this huge place for 30 minutes. But every second she had to ignore Mitch' constant staring, she grew even angrier. Anger mixed with the constant paranoia this place caused, wasn't the best combination, and even the slightest comment from him, had made her incredibly close to just exploding in his face.

"Don't tell me you aren't the least bit tempted?" He suddenly asked, Stopping her by grabbing her upperarm and holding her trapped against the wall. "I know your 'boyfriend' is great for protection, he's big, strong, intimidating. But he doesn't have to know."

Stella tried to reach her gun but he grabbed her wrist before she could even touch it. Of course, it was him. He had planned it from the very start, that's why she ended up with him in this mess.

"You're thinking it's me aren't you?" He asked shocked, she didn't answer she just glared at him. As his body held her against the wall, in the dimly lit, bluish hallway.

In a total panic, she didn't seem to think straight, but still somehow manage to grab Mitch' gun from the holster, press it against his throat.

-o-

Mac explained that Matthew had been walking behind him for a couple of minutes, suddenly when he turned around, he was gone. Mac had walked a little back, and found a pretty large bloodstain, suggesting that no one could survive that.

"Are you telling me Matt is dead?" Lucas asked anxiously. Mac could honestly say he understood him, they had been working together for 7 years, according to Matthew.

"Missing, so far." Mac said, but their musings didn't reach further before they were interrupted by Stella's voice a little further up ahead.

"Touch me again, and I'll blow your goddamn head off!" She threatened loudly, her voice incredibly shrill, making Mac draw his gun and followed by the others rush in direction of her voice.

Stella was holding a gun against Mitch' throat, he was standing way too close to her, and it didn't take more than a second, before Don had pushed him against the opposite wall, holding his gun against Mitch' chest.

Mac rushed those 2 steps towards Stella, who was looking at her slightly shaking hands, she'd dropped the gun on the floor, not thinking further about it. Mac lifted her chin up, looked her in the eyes as he asked her if she was alright.

"I'm fine." She lied, but Mac knew better than to dig into it right now. Instead he took her incredibly fine hand, gave it a gentle squeeze to assure her it was alright.

-o-

"It wasn't me!" Mitch growled. "How could it be? I were no where near Detectives Taylor and Andrews."

"He's got a point!" Abigail defended, even though none of the others wanted to see it, they knew she was right.

"No, he was too busy assaulting Stella." Danny growled angrily. Even though she were in the room next door, Stella could easily hear the argument that went on in there. As far as she knew Danny had been the first to suggest they handcuffed Mitch to the heavy steel table in the middle of the room.

"He's blowing it a little out of proportions." She said numbly, looking at Mac who sat opposite her on the bed.

"I think you aren't taking it seriously enough. What if you hadn't been that fast?" He asked concerned. Stella shrugged. "Then he would've let go of me when he realized what he was doing. He's a detective Mac, not a rapist."

"I guess I'm just being a little protective huh?" He asked, she smiled. "Ya. But it feels kind'a good. Means you care enough about me to be worried."

The reply to that, was just a shy smile. But Stella knew he cared, even though reading Mac Taylor, was far from the easiest task in the world. She was glad he let her close enough to do so.

-o-

"Why hasn't he called?" Lindsay asked nervously, Sid smiled bearingly as he convinced her that it had only been 2 days.

"He said he would call me, every night." She reasoned, worried sick about her husband, even though she knew he occasionally forgot to think straight.

"Maybe he's just so caught up in the case?" Sid started, but Lindsay was fast and added "..That he forgot to call his wife?"

"Mac and Stella are there, and Don. He wont get himself into trouble, besides, it's an Island. How much trouble can there possibly be?" Sid tried, knowing it would be pretty difficult to convince Lindsay that everything was alright. Since she had her mind set on being worried.

"Right, right. But why doesn't he pick up his phone? I even tried calling Stella, she always picks up." She continued.

"She didn't pick up the first 4 times Frankie called her." He suggested, but Lindsay quickly replied that it wasn't the same.

-o-

Stella laid wide awake, looked at the ceiling in the living/dining room. They had agreed that they wouldn't split up, all of them would sleep in the same room. Safest. Then they would take turns in staying awake, being on guard. Only, so far, Abigail and Mitch had taken shifts in being awake, Don was awake right now, and Lucas hadn't gotten any sleep. It must be awful for him, he didn't have anyone he knew here anymore.

She didn't think much about that though, she were busy wondering what the hell was going on, and whether they were ever going to get away from there.

Despite the fact that she was probably the one person here that were safest, she didn't feel safe. Don and Danny had taken on this brotherish attitude, after the incident with Mitch, and decided to lay by her. So that Don, Danny and Mac were practically laying in a circle around her.

She felt so lucky, to have three of the people she trusted more than anything, to be here with her, even though she wanted them to be just as safe, as they wanted her to be.

They had taken every possible precaution. Considering both that it could be one of the group, or someone they didn't even know were there. Everybody took care of their own food, since no one wanted a repeat of the spiked coffee. And they were of course keeping an extra eye in Mitch, just as Abigail and Mitch were keeping an extra eye on Mac, since he had been the last to see Matthew.

Lucas hadn't decided on a side, and just sat and stared numbly out in the air, thinking about the loss of his partner through 7 years.

Stella understood him perfectly, by the time she had worked with Mac for 7 years, she had become pretty dependent of him.

"When did this whole thing between you start anyway?" Danny asked, obviously also unable to sleep.

"Officially, the night before we left." Mac replied, revealing that none of the NYPD detectives were able to sleep.

"Linds is gonna smack me on the head and tell me 'I told you so' when I get home." He said with a quiet laugh.

"You placing bets on our personal-lives?" Stella mocked as she sat up, better to chat quietly with the others, than to lay and desperately try to sleep, all the while you only achieved to be more and more nervous.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: A single review.. Sigh. Well a new chapter for you. Hope you'll like it.**

Chapter 6:

"Lets search this place from top to bottom, see if we can find anything to get us outta here." Mac said in his most official tone. Even though this entire situation was starting to affect him more and more.

"Should we split up?" Abigail asked hopefully, looking towards Mitch. It was a mystery to Mac, how a woman that thick, could become a detective.

"No, we stay together, all of us. We can keep an eye on each other." Danny said reasonably, "If anyone split, it's at own risk."

"Did anyone check for a message, where Matthew disappeared?" Don asked cleverly.

"No, I didn't think about that." Mac admitted, "But it doesn't make sense, the last message didn't even give us a clue, except it was written in Greek. And Stella wasn't the next."

"Matt.. had a daughter outside marriage, I think she's part Greek." Lucas explained thoughtfully.

"Let's go back to the hallway, look for any hidden or obvious message." Don suggested. Mac nodded as he commented that he'd wake up Stella.

-o-

"1/4" Stella mused thoughtfully, looking at the message that was written on the wall, in what appeared to be blood. "This cant be good."

"It doesn't make sense, we're 7." Mitch commented, looking around. Except at Stella, it seemed he'd finally learned his lesson.

"1.75" Stella said. "A quarter of 7 is 1.75."

"So he's planning to kill one of us, and then 3 thirds of another. That doesn't make sense." Lucas thought out-loud.

"When do you think they're going to miss us?" Stella asked nervously, constantly looking around.

"I promised to call Lindsay every night. She must be worried by now." Danny said. "I mean, if we don't come home all 4 of us. She's gonna be pissed."

"4... There it is. We're 4." Don said. Looking at his colleagues. Stella didn't really know what to think, she didn't have much time to do so either, before Mac held his hands on her arms. She laid her head back, resting on his shoulder.

"Maybe we shouldn't jump to the most obvious conclusion." Mac reasoned, Stella sighed, not knowing whether to accept the shallow attempt of comfort, or to counter it.

"It makes sense though, John from LA died first, Then Matthew from North Carolina." She said, not wanting to finish her sentence, because she knew the only conclusion it could lead to would be that one of them were next.

"Isn't this from the NYPD?" Lucas asked as he held a badge in his hand, reached it out for Don.

"Mac it's your badge." Don said, Stella released a quiet gasp as Don handed Mac his badge.

"I don't think he is the target." Danny said quietly, handing Mac a piece of paper, that had laid folded beneath the badge.

Stella didn't get a chance to look at Macs face, since she was standing with her back to him. But she soon heard the sound of what she guessed to be his badge, fall to the ground.

The reason for his reaction wasn't hard to guess as he held his hands on her upperarms again, but this time tighter than before.

"What?" Stella asked anxiously. "What is it?"

"You better read this." Don said, he had picked up the piece of paper from the floor.

_'How do you want to say goodbye?' _It said, followed by a single, quickly sketched heart.

"I don't." Mac whispered barely audible, she turned around to face him as she noticed the others back a few feet away, to give them a little privacy. Or, as much as possibly.

She gently placed her hands on his cheeks, looked into his anxious bluish eyes. For the first time ever, she saw Mac afraid, not just a little scared, but genuinely anxious.

"You wont have to." She started. "You hear me?" She asked, shivering slightly, she was as scared as the others, maybe even more.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he held his arms protectively around her. "Hang in there, We're gonna get outta here." She said quietly, enjoying the comfort she found right there.

-o-

"He's kind'a cute when he's asleep." Stella mused quietly, her hand resting on Macs shoulder. They had all decided to stay in the room they'd been sleeping in the night before. Keep an eye on eachother.

Mac and Stella had been sitting by the wall, resting against eachother. But finally Mac had fallen asleep, probably for the first time since this mess started. He had slid further and further down. Until she'd carefully placed his head in her lap.

She was somehow glad, that even though he wanted to be the strong one all the time, he could be fragile in her company.

Danny smiled by the sight of his two bosses, as he replied that he'd never imagined Mac would be like this.

"I'm pretty lucky. He's a great guy to have." She said with a slight smile. She was too tired, and too numb to worry about their situation right now.

"That's a lot to say after less than 5 days together.." Danny said, making her chuckle lightly. "Nah, he's always been mine, he just didn't know it." She joked. "It's like we've known eachother for ever you know. Whether it's to get discount on couples menues at the movies, or you need a shoulder to cry on. He's always there. We've been dancing around each other for so long, that I didn't even notice something changed." She explained, "This is one thing I never thought I'd see though." She said, referring to the fact that he was sleeping quietly, his head resting on her lap, not the other way around.

"Maybe it's because he's with the right woman." Danny suggested seriously. "Linds changed me too, from day one. I don't know how you do it. You, Lindsay, probably every woman in the universe." He started, Stella was intrigued, she definitely wanted to hear the continuation of this story.

"First, you pick your target. Then you get our interest. Suddenly, you're hard to get. That's the first test, how far will we go, can we stand the heat?" He said with his trademark smile on his face. "If we're good enough, then boom, the trap closes. You've got us wrapped around your finger. Then there's the whole, what are we? Where do we stand?-deal."

He took a couple of seconds, either to judge her reaction, or just think about what to say, before he continued. "It's a never-ending story, I'll bet you, that when Linds and I retire, she'll still be able to make me go to town at 3am, if that was what she wanted me to. The same deal with you and Mac, although, it does look like you've got him wrapped around your finger pretty good already."

"We are kind'a good together. But no one, has Mac Taylor wrapped around their finger. Except from Lucy. When she starts dating, he'll be as worried as you, if not more." Stella said, looking at the strong marine, who for once in his life, if unwittingly, surrendered to the sleep, and seemed as peaceful and fragile as all other people.

"Unless you two have kids of your own." Danny said, slightly mocking. "Especially if they were girls. I can imagine 2 little Stellas hanging by their daddy. Who would be trying to keep a civil conversation with their mom, who of course, would be as happy and at times annoying as the girls." He continued, still mocking, but something serious about his voice.

"Easy there Messer." She said, a little overwhelmed by Dannys sudden sentimentality. Even though there were something about the thought that she liked very much. "You said it yourself, we've only been together for 4½ day."

"Yea you're right. I'd feel awfully sorry for him too, having to deal with three of you." He mocked.

"You know Danny? I don't know how Lindsay puts up with you." She countered wisely, before disappearing into thought, wondering if her and Mac would ever get a chance to experience what Danny had described.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Next chapter is up, And I'm already writing on chapter 8. I'm not quite sure how I want to end the story, but what's a mystery to me, is a surprise to you. Anyhow, please don't hate me.**

**Haruko**

Chapter 7:

"I like that look." Mac said calmly, as Stella tied an elastic around her hair. Holding it away from her face. The puzzled look on her face didn't skip his attention. "Determination." He explained, making her smile slightly.

"It's because I desperately want to get home and act newly in love." She said with sparks in her eyes. "I hate that we didn't get a better start." She said quietly. He smiled slightly, held his hand on her cheeks as he told her, that they could make whatever start they wanted, when they got outta here. That comment, made her lean in, and kiss him tenderly on the lips.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to split up?" She asked after a while. The most comforting thought about this, being that splitting up, meant that she would get to stay with Mac.

"No. But it does look like our only option, if we don't want to just sit around and wait for the others to miss us." He reasoned, making her nod understanding.

"You're probably right." She sighed. "But hey, we're 4 people, we know we can trust eachother."

"That's 3 guys to look out for you Stel." Don commented smartly as him and Danny approached Mac and Stella.

"Is that some weird interpretation of the fact that I'm a woman?" Stella asked cockily. Danny shook his head innocently. "No, actually, it's to save our own asses, can you imagine what Mac would be like if we didn't keep you safe?"

"Thank you Danny." Mac commented absently as he looked towards the hallway. "Be careful guys." He said. Mitch and Abigail had already left, with Lucas.

"You too." Don said before him and Danny took off.

-o-

"I keep thinking about Lindsay and Lucy. What if I never get to see them again huh?" Danny asked nervously. Don padded his back, even though he didn't feel any more hopeful than Danny. "You will Messer."

"What makes anyone do something like this?" Danny continued. Don just shrugged. "People mad enough, can do anything."

"Right.. I have a wife, and the most adorable daughter in the world. I intend on getting home to them in one piece." Danny said. "Why did we have to split up?"

"I don't know. But the sooner we find some way to get outta here, the better." Don said, not too fond of the whole splitting up idea either. It had been Mitch' idea. He thought it was best they split up, if they didn't trust each other.

-o-

Mac held on tightly to Stella's hand, her fingers tangled in between his, neither had any intention of letting go of each other. They didn't want to end up alone in this, and they absolutely did not want to lose the other.

They were both also holding on tightly to their guns, both scared from their senses after days in this nightmare.

"Let's go this way." She suggested, leading down another hallway. They just walked around, not really caring where they went, as long as they weren't stuck in one place.

"Maybe we should try to get outside?" He suggested after another while with dreadful silence.

"We'll be just as vulnerable outside. But let's give it a shot." She said, wondering if they'd ever get out of there, despite the will to live she allowed to shine through her fear.

After rushing around for a little while, Stella ended up being a little behind Mac, still holding on tightly to his hand.

That was until someone caught up with her from behind, held a rag in front of her mouth and nose. It didn't take more than a second for her to recognize the nasty, clinical smell of chloroform, and not more than 2 breaths before everything seemed to disappear into the distance, the last thing she managed to catch on to was the sound of a gunshot.

-o-

The obnoxious pounding in her head, made Stella slowly come to. At first, it wasn't more than a scrambling sound that made it through to her brain, the sound of someone moving something around.

But after a little while, she managed to convince herself to open her eyes. At first she just felt like slamming them shut again, the sharp light stung the first while, and maybe she didn't want to see what had happened.

She wanted to bring her hands up and rub her eyes, but she suddenly realized they were tied, behind her back, behind the back of a chair to make it all worse. He ankles were equally tied to the legs of the chair. It didn't take much for her to figure out that she was in trouble.

She looked around in the room she was stuck in. There weren't many things, but Lucas was sitting on a chair in the corner watching her calmly.

"And you were almost willing to bet that it was Mitch..." He sighed, shaking his head defeatist as he got up and walked towards her. "He did a good job framing himself though."

"How could you..?" She asked numbly, making him chuckle.

"You are aware that I can kill you just like that? And still you question me..." He said, running his fingers over the blade of a knife he had suddenly taken from the table behind him. "It was easy, everybody was preoccupied. Abigail in her jealousy, Mitch in his crush, that guy, Messer in his wife and daughter, and Don seems to be mourning. You and your precious boyfriend, too caught up in eachother, to notice anything."

He paused for a second before he took his gun from the holster, almost as if he was weighing the gun and the knife in his hands, considering how to kill her. "John Bernard had to go, he would've caught on to me almost instantly. And Matt... Poor Matt. He was an unexpected casualty. The hallway was dark, I was actually going for your friend."

He took a couple of steps towards her as he suddenly said: "Uh, that reminds me, I have to go see if he's still breathing after our last encounter. You just sit tight. I'll be right back." He said, running the blade of the knife over her cheek.

Stella felt the anxiety raise as her heartrate increased. The minute Lucas turned his back to her, the first tear ran down her cheek. The gunshot, Lucas had shot Mac. Lucas could actually have killed Mac.

"You son of a bitch." She snuffled barely audible, trying to blink the tears away, but she realized that it wasn't possible.

As the shadows revealed that someone was in the door, she knew she was probably gonna die soon, and even though she was afraid she didn't have any reason to, she wanted to live.

She looked up expecting to see Lucas, but instead she saw Mitch's concerned face. He held his indexfinger in front of his lips, signaling for her to be quiet as he walked behind her and quickly untied the rope that tied her wrists together.

"Listen, I'm sorry I was such a jack-ass. I know I was way out of line, and... I know there aren't the greatest chances that you'll trust me, but it's probably best if we want to make it outta here alive." He said, Stella looked at him as he untied her feet. Nervously asked him where Abigail was.

"Dead." He said quietly, but couldn't give any further explanation before the sound of another gunshot pierced the air.

"Such a shame..." Lucas sighed, shaking his head as he walked towards her.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Situation tenses, here's the next chappie, I know you wanted me to update because of the cliffie, but don't consider yourself sure just yet. Enjoy.**

**Haruko.**

Chapter 8:

The sound of her own gasping breath was the only thing Stella heard apart from the sound of her feet hitting the slippery floor as she ran down the terrifying hallway.

She didn't know where to go, she just ran and ran, hoping to come up with something along the way, to get her out of this alive.

Looking over her shoulder to see how close Lucas was, she just saw him come around the last corner. Her lack of focus on where she was going, made her slip and fall, in what she guessed to be blood.

Within half a second, she knew exactly whose blood it was, and where she was. She was at the same spot, where Lucas drugged her, and shot Mac.

"Oh god." She gasped as she crawled backwards over the floor to get away from Lucas, who was standing by her within 2 steps.

Considering that Lucas was a relatively average guy, he was incredibly fast to grab her arm and hail her on her feet.

The minute he had her backed against the wall, he pulled out his knife, a vicious spark in his eye as the blade neared her throat.

This was one of the times where growing up as a girl who needed to know how to defend herself, came in handy. Scratching, kicking, at the moment she didn't rule any option out as she fought for her life, using the girlish tricks she knew from the orphanage.

"Bitch!" Lucas growled as she managed to scratch him right in the eye. Push him away in the confusion.

Running down the hallway, she didn't think about anything that finding someway out of here, finding Don and Danny, or Mac. The fact that he wasn't here, could mean that the injury wasn't fatal.

The sounds of a thud, and some crashing, told her that Lucas was still tumbling around and hadn't started running after her yet. A scratch like that in the eye, had to hurt, and probably made it difficult to see for a short while.

"In here." A quiet whisper caught her attention, she turned her head and looked into the room beside her. The relief to find Mac sitting on the floor in a corner, was tremendous.

She turned into the room after making sure Lucas wasn't looking at her. Within a second she had dropped to her knees next to Mac. Unfortunately the blood led into the room, they had to get away from there.

"You're bleeding pretty bad." She sighed, her heart still pounding as she quickly undid her belt and smartly wrapped it twice around his thigh, just above the wound, tightened it as much as she possibly could.

"Where'd you learn that?"He asked whispering, she quickly commented that she had seen it in a movie once.

"He's closing in. We gotta get moving." She said as she tried to help him on his feet, but he was heavy.

"You're never getting away from him carrying me." He protested, she rolled her eyes at his behavior, not that she hadn't expected it.

"If you wanted to die a hero, you should've found another girlfriend." She said as they managed to get on their feet. Head towards the door in the other end of the room.

"This is why I love you." He commented, probably not really thinking about it at first, until she smiled and told him she loved him too.

-o-

2 gunshots, spread over almost 15 minutes, had scared Don and Danny from their senses, just because of the thought that it could be Mac and Stella.

"You think they're alright?" Danny asked after a couple of minutes of silence after the last gunshot. Don just shrugged numbly. "We gotta find them." He said with determination after a short while.

"Could be dangerous." Danny said nervously, Don glared at him, growling that so was this.

"Sorry buddy. The gunshots came from somewhere behind us." Danny commented, turning around to look for their missing friends. Only a single thought roaming in Dannys he had a wife and daughter to take care of. And if he didn't get back to them, he didn't know what would happen.

They hadn't been walking for more than 5 minutes, in this abnormally huge place, before the sound of footsteps reached them. Didn't sound to be more than one, which in either way it could be, terrified them. There were only a few options, either it was Mitch, Abigail or Lucas, either one of them could be the killer. Or Mac or Stella, meaning that the other was dead, since common knowledge was, that neither one of them, would leave the other behind.

Both aiming their guns straight ahead, they waited to find out who was closing in on them.

"Oh thank god." Lucas sighed as he appeared around the corner, held his hands above his head, holding his gun in the right.

"I.. It's Mitch." He said, Danny lowered his gun cautiously, but Don was suspicious.

"He shot Mac, I don't know where Stella is." He explained sincerely. "I tried to stop him but it was too late, I had to flee."

"What about the other gunshot?" Danny asked curiously, Lucas shrugged. "Happened after I left."

-o-

Panic rushed through her veins as Stella fought to keep walking, supporting Mac, or rather carrying a lot of his weight, as they rushed down yet another hallway.

The thought that Lucas could be right behind them made her keep going, even though her legs were hurting and the thought about relaxing just a little bit became more and more tempting with every second.

It had surprised her a great deal when they arrived, how big this place really was, there were all kind of rooms, but there had to be, it was a federal training location. Unfortunately for them, all the rooms and endless hallways made this place a maze, it was impossible to know their way around in this situation.

She didn't know how long they had been walking, but suddenly her legs refused to carry them anymore, she ended up sitting on her knees on the floor, Mac lifted himself up to sit beside her.

"I'm sorry." She sighed, getting ready to get up but Mac took her hand. "Take a break Stel." He said calmly, but his voice still hinting the fear that had gotten to even him.

He brought her fingers to his lips, kissed her fingertips caringly. "It's gonna be okay." H tried comforting, and even though she was well aware that he couldn't promise that, it somehow still made her feel better.

"I hear Don... And Danny." She said, as the sound of their voices reached her, hope started to grow in her again, finally. "You got your gun?" She asked, Mac took his gun from the holster, reached it out for her.

"No, keep it. Stay on guard." She said as she got up to stop Don and Danny.

"You're not going anywhere alone and unarmed." He protested. She rolled her eyes at him. "Actually, you're not staying here alone and unarmed."

"Stella..." He said quietly, she crossed her arms. "You're injured, I can run. Guess who holds the ace." She said as she headed to find Don and Danny.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's the last chapter, I hope it can live up to your hopes :D Or something like that. Enjoy.**

Chapter 9:

Stella tiptoed cautiously down the hallway, constantly looking over her shoulder, just a single thought haunting her mind. 'Was it stupid to leave Mac?' She knew he could take care of himself, but he was injured, probably also worse than he would admit.

She felt her body stiffen at once as she heard Lucas' voice blend in with Don and Dannys, and turning around a corner, she saw them straight ahead. She quickly turned back rushed towards Mac, just hoping that Lucas hadn't seen her.

"He's with them." She gasped quietly as she went to help Mac up, but he stopped her. "We cant outrun him." He said quietly. She nodded numbly, she knew they couldn't, but she couldn't just give up either.

"Over there." She said as she spotted a group of boxes they could hide behind, She didn't know whether it was because she was scared to death by the thought of facing Lucas again, or it was the short break, that made her able to get Mac back on his feet and to the hide in the corner.

She grabbed his hand tightly, there wasn't much else they could do right now. Just wait and hope that they wouldn't be spotted.

-o-

Don didn't know how to react to this whole situation, how could they be sure that Lucas wasn't the killer? Sure he had been incredibly kind and open, and it made perfect sense that it would be Mitch, he had been a complete jack-ass from day one.

The fact that no one knew where Stella was right now,was a terrifying thought in itself, but if Mitch really was the killer, who knows what kind of situation Stella could be in right now.

Walking through a rather messy room, with boxes and crates everywhere, there was something off about this room, he felt sort of watched walking through.

As he was almost through the room, walking a little behind the others, he suddenly stumbled over something and fell.

Looking to see what he had fallen over, he saw Mac and Stella sitting hidden behind some boxes, Stella had deliberately tried to make him fall. She signaled for him to keep quiet. Suddenly he knew something was definitely not right.

The relief to see both of them breathing, was enormous, but he was more focused on what Stella was trying to tell him.

"It's Lucas." She whispered, but Don barely had time to nod confused, before Danny called his name, asked if he was alright. He quickly got up and soon caught up with Danny and Lucas.

He couldn't believe that it was Lucas, he had done this? Even killed his own partner.

He didn't know what to do, whether her should just take aim and shoot him, or he should try to catch him, and get him to prison.

-o-

"You're crazy." Mac sighed quietly, somehow still proud of the way Stella had handled warning Don.

"I had to do something." She reasoned, looking at Mac with the same concerned look that had filled her eyes since this situation started.

A gunshot suddenly caught their attention, Mac wouldn't dare getting up, until something or someone told him who had shot who.

A sharp, terrifying silence filled the air for a few seconds, before Don and Danny showed up in the door.

"He's dead." Don said calmly, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "It's over." He finished, Mac didn't know whether to laugh or cry, it was the weirdest feeling.

"Let's get outta here." Stella said as she got on her feet incredibly quickly. Don and Danny, however, didn't give her a chance to help Mac up, before they had him hailed to his feet.

-o-

"You hanging in there?" Stella asked concerned as she sat down next to Mac, who had spent the last 10 minutes staring absently out in the air. Something about this mess, hadn't quite gotten through to them. It was hard to make yourself understand that it had actually happened, and that it was finally over.

"Yea, yea I'm fine." He sighed, referring to his leg most likely, they had patched it up a little better than her alternative method with the belt, but he could probably use some painkillers. Not that he would ever admit it.

"Thank you." He said quietly, looking at her with a tired look in his eyes. She tilted her head slightly, waiting patiently for him to go on.

"For not giving up on me." He finished, making her smile slightly. "That's what partners do." She said, repeating words she'd said on more than one occasion before.

He nodded, wrapped his arms around her, allowed her to rest against his shoulder, she enjoyed every second she spent with him. She knew she had to, if this had taught her anything, it was that.

"So what are we going to do now?" Danny asked calmly as him and Don sat down opposite them.

"Wait." Mac said, suddenly the usual calm bossy tone had returned like by the blink of an eye. "Sooner or later the others will know something is wrong."

-o-

Lindsay, Sid, Hawkes and 2 other officers walked towards the huge building, something about this place gave Sid the creeps. And they had barely walked through the door before they knew that something wasn't right.

After walking around in the building for a while, they finally reached a room where the lights were actually on, proving a sign of life.

What startled them, was the smeared bloodstains, where a hallway turned around a corner, almost as if someone had slipped in it.

Lindsay gasped anxiously, thinking that it could be Danny. No matter which member of their team it could be, would be devastating.

They were all getting more and more worried with every step they took. Discussing whether they believed the others were alright.

It was like that, until they entered a room, where 4 exhausted detectives were sound asleep. Danny asleep over the armrests of an armchair, Don was sleeping on the floor, resting his head on what looked like a bundled up coat.

To their surprise, they found Mac and Stella asleep, sharing the couch, despite what looked like a pretty serious wound in Macs thigh.

Lindsay rushed to Danny, and woke up Don in the process. Hawkes and Sid both went to Mac and Stella.

-o-

"Anything from Mac and Stella?" Hawkes asked as he entered the break room, where Danny and Lindsay were discussing what to give Lucy for christmas.

"Last I heard, they were still hiding out at her place, pretending the world didn't exist." Lindsay said, wondering whether or not their colleagues would ever return to work.

"It's been 3 weeks, Mac has never taken so much time off. Not even after the 9/11" Danny explained musing.

"Maybe he figured that he shouldn't take it for granted this time?"Hawkes suggested thoughtfully, the image of Mac and Stella sharing the couch after the traumatic event, could still make him smile.

"You know what? I think he likes playing hooky." Danny mused with a grin on his face...

**A/N: I hope the ending wasn't disappointing, Till I'm back again.**

**Haruko.**


End file.
